


You Make Loving Fun

by twinkhemmings



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No 5 Seconds of Summer, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 03:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17216513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinkhemmings/pseuds/twinkhemmings
Summary: Stars aligned and souls intertwined – loving is fun when you’ve known your soulmate since you were young. The road to love hasn’t always been a smooth one, but Calum and Ashton always end up in the right place.Together.





	You Make Loving Fun

**Author's Note:**

> Whilst "No Roots" is not yet complete, I had the overwhelming urge to write a fluffy, angsty Cashton fic.  
> I've enjoyed writing some tooth-rotting fluff, and I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I have loved writing!
> 
> (Song - 'You Make Loving Fun', by Fleetwood Mac)

“You, you make loving fun

And I don't have to tell you but you're the only one”

 

1. 

Calum woke up on the morning of his ninth birthday to the roar of a transit van outside his bedroom window. Groggily, Calum wiped his small hands against his eyes before shuffling in his bed so that he could sneak his head through the light-yellow curtains and rest his chin on the window ledge. Squinting slightly in the morning blush, Calum spotted a family moving into the previously unoccupied house next door, a young girl stomping up the driveway as two boys tried to push each other into the hedge that Calum’s mother very neatly shaped only two days ago.

Continuing to be nosey, Calum watched as the removal van slowly emptied, the mother of the children wiping the back of her hand against her flushed forehead, the Sydney air stifling outside. Resting his arms on the window ledge with his chin on his forearm, Calum watched as the older child tried to help his mother carry some boxes into the house, Calum flushing with embarrassment as the boy caught him blatantly staring at them. Pulling away from the window, Calum decided he should go and jump in bed with his parents in order to get his birthday gifts as soon as he can.

He _knows_ he’s getting a game console, and he wants _at least_ fifteen minutes on it before he has to go to school.

 

2.

Calum soon learnt that the boy next door was called Ashton and that he is _eleven_ years old! Calum can’t believe that he has a neighbour who is older than him but s _till_ wants to play in the treehouse.

“I’m gonna get you!” Ashton shouted from the grass below, Calum scurrying up the ladder to get into the treehouse before the other boy. Calum grinned from ear to ear, giggling as Ashton tried to race up after him, the other boy imitating a pirate as he wielded his ‘sword’ (or a stick that he found in Calum’s family dog’s bed).

“You can’t get me, I have my magic shield!” Calum giggled, his tank-top ripping slightly as it got caught on a small branch in the doorway of the treehouse when he threw his tiny body inside. Calum scurried to the other side of the treehouse, cupping his hands to shout out of the makeshift window at Ashton.

“Calum you can’t have a magic shield” Ashton grumped, panting as he joined the younger boy in the wooden den; “Magic isn’t real, so looks like I win.” Calum cocked his head to the side looking at Ashton puzzled.

“Magic _is_ real” Calum said wonderingly, “Because if magic isn’t real, then how come my teeth always get taken by the tooth-fairy and I wake up with a dollar under my pillow!?” he said challengingly, sure that he had proved Ashton wrong by this important fact.

Ashton smirked. Calum doesn’t like it when Ashton smirks, because it means that he’s about to tell Calum something that he probably doesn’t want to hear.

“Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?” Ashton teased, crawling over to Calum tauntingly, clearly about to start tickling the younger boy; “I bet you still believe in Santa too!” he continued, Calum starting to get a little upset as water pooled in the corner of his eyes, a sniffle escaping him too.

“What do you mean?” Calum sniffled, eyebrows furrowed as his glistening orbs stared at Ashton, completely puzzled by the smirk on the older boy’s face.

“They’re not real, Calum” Ashton laughed, “They’re just stories your parents tell you. Santa and the tooth-fairy are just your parents!”

***

Calum sulked with Ashton for a week before the older boy was made to apologise by his mother, the curly haired boy holding him in a tight hug as he said sorry and invited Calum around to play Mario Kart on his new Nintendo Wii.

 

3.

Calum was sulking at Ashton’s fourteenth birthday party because Ashton’s girlfriend is here, and when Ashton’s girlfriend is here, Calum gets ignored by his best friend. Rather than joining in the roller-skating games, Calum decided to sit by the buffet with a frown on his face, watching all the older kids push each other around and giggle when girl’s skirts flew up and showed their knickers.

Calum had bought Ashton a _Blink 182_ CD for his birthday, some sort of punk band that Calum was apparently ‘too young’ to listen to. The younger boy thumbed the corner of the wrapping paper, a sigh leaving his lips as he watched Ashton and his girlfriend sneak kisses whilst Marie wasn’t watching. Calum just wanted to spend time with his best friend, not watch him kiss a girl who wasn’t even _that_ pretty in Calum’s opinion. Instead, he sat there with his doe eyes glistening under the rainbow disco lights, his heart sinking as he watched Ashton have the best birthday party in the world, barely even noticing that Calum was there.

Ashton’s mum shouted to say that the buffet was ready, Calum moving from his spot to linger at the edge of the roller rink, desperate to give his gift to Ashton before he ate little sandwiches with the crusts cut off and far too much chocolate. His young heart skipped a beat when he saw the flushed older boy taking off his skates, plopping them on the floor before running a hand through his sweaty locks, his teenage arms lanky and his skin glistening.

Calum thought Ashton was beautiful, but didn’t all best friends think that?

Before he had much time to contemplate his thoughts, Ashton was bounding over to draw Calum into a hug: “When did you get here!? You should have shouted me over” Ashton frowned, squeezing Calum so tight the younger boy could barely breathe.

“I’ve not been here long” Calum lied with a blush, knowing full well that his mum dropped him off nearly twenty minutes ago, his right hand holding the delicately wrapped CD behind his back; “but here’s your present” he continued, stuffing the object into Ashton’s gleaming face, the other boy’s pearly white teeth shimmering in the rainbow lights of the disco ball.

Ashton excitedly look the CD and pressed a delicate kiss to Calum’s left cheek, his smile expanding across his face as he giddily tore open the wrapping paper, a few small pieces falling to the floor. When the gift was fully unwrapped, Ashton squealed in delight, pulling Calum back in for another crushing embrace.

“You remembered” Ashton hummed in the younger boy’s ear, Calum nodding against his shoulder as his heart fluttered, reminiscing to only a few months ago when they went to their local shopping centre and Ashton got upset because he couldn’t afford that very CD.

“I always remember” Calum whispered back, the two of them parting as Ashton’s girlfriend, Carly, shouted him over to the buffet table; “It’s okay, you can go” Calum continued as Ashton gave him a guilty smile before he jogged over to Carly, kissing his CD and winking over his shoulder at Calum.

Calum wished that Carly didn’t exist.

 

4.

Carly had broken up with Ashton only two weeks after his birthday party, and Calum had gone to sleep over at the older boy’s house so that they could play video games and eat crisps. Ashton’s eyes looked sad, and Calum didn’t like it. He wanted to make Ashton laugh, to make his bright white teeth shine under the slight light of his desk lamp as Calum smiled alongside him.

“She had weird hair anyways” Calum hummed, the two boys laid on their backs on Ashton’s bed, the older boy sniffling and pretending not to cry in front of his best friend; “She looked like Cindy-Lou from The Grinch” he continued, the downtrodden older boy letting a breathy sigh escape him.

“She did always tie her ponytail up really high” Ashton giggled whilst Calum pretended to pull his skin on his face back _really_ tight, as though he had a high ponytail; “That’s exactly how she looked!” Ashton continued, the two boys giggling uncontrollably as they contorted their faces at one another, Calum reaching to squish Ashton’s cheeks back whilst the older boy stuck his tongue out.

Calum noticed how soft Ashton’s skin was – how despite being a _real_ teenager now, his skin still felt as soft and smooth as Calum’s. The two of them dropped their arms, still giggling slightly as Ashton turned onto his side, his no-longer-damp eyes watching the side of the young kiwi’s face.

“Do you wanna know why you’re my best friend, Cal?” Ashton hummed, resting his head on his palm as Calum glanced towards him, the younger boy also turning to lie on his side, the navy-blue duvet bunching around his knees.

Calum nodded his head, his eyes growing heavy as he glanced across the room at Ashton’s digital clock, the time reading 11:45pm.

“Because no matter how many people hurt me, you’re always there, making things that little bit happier: making me smile” Ashton spoke, his sentence slowly becoming a whisper; “I really do love you, bud” he continued. Calum’s heart fluttered again, his instinct being to pull Ashton into a tight hug – something that they do when the other boy is sad or scared.

Calum doesn’t want Ashton to be upset, he wants Ashton to be the happiest boy in the world.

 

5.

Calum was at soccer camp and he was in the middle of sending Ashton a postcard. Now that he was fourteen, his mum let him go to the sports camp that they had been saving for. They always said that if Mali was allowed to have a guitar, then Calum would be allowed to go to soccer camp.

The letter that Ashton had previously sent said that his sixteenth birthday was fun, but that he wished Calum had been there so that they could secretly have shared some beer together. Ashton told Calum that he missed the younger boy, and that he would do anything to have Calum back before the end of summer. Even though Calum had been wanting to come to the football camp for years, he now wished he was back in Sydney with his best-friend, playing football on the beach and getting sand in their shoes rather than being here with some weird boys who are actually _obsessed_ with football.

Ashton had attached a polaroid photo to the letter he had sent Calum, the older boy currently obsessed with ‘old-fashioned’ photos. Calum doesn’t understand why Ashton doesn’t just text him seeing as they both have a phone, but Ashton said it’s cute to have a paper-trail of their time apart. The photo of Ashton featured Calum’s sister, Mali. She had gone to Ashton’s birthday party because they’re in the same year group at school, and Calum smiled at the photo of his two favourite people in the whole world.

Calum and Ashton used to always say that Ashton should marry Mali so that the two boys could be _real_ brothers, but the older the two boys got, the less they joked about the idea of Ashton marrying a girl.

Just before Calum left for soccer camp, Ashton told Calum a big secret that Calum wasn’t allowed to tell anyone else, and the younger boy promised that his lips were sealed, because secrets were for keeping and not to be heard:

_The two boys were in Ashton’s garden, laid on their backs and tugging at the grass between their fingertips, Ashton teasing Calum by fluttering the grass onto the younger boy’s face. Calum responded with a squeal and “no fair” before sitting up and shoving handfuls of grass into Ashton’s face, the older boy giggling incessantly whilst trying to roll Calum onto his back so that he could pin him down and spit on him. Ashton knew spitting was gross and that his mom would tell them off if she saw, but Calum would only stop if Ashton did something really gross._

_After giggling and flushed cheeks had died down, Calum was laid on his back on the grass, small tanned frame looking delicate as Ashton sat on the Calum’s stomach, their chests both heaving and grass in one another’s hair. Ashton blew onto Calum’s face, the younger boy scrunching up his eyes and nose with a beaming smile, the older boy realising that blowing the grass wasn’t really helping, but that it was earning a smile from Calum._

_“Ash, stop it!” Calum giggled, trying to tickle Ashton’s sides but finding that the older boy was gently pinning his wrists down against the warm garden floor. Calum opened his eyes once again to see his best friend smiling down at him, his curly hair unruly and gently bouncing in the wind, his hazel eyes shimmering in the evening sun, and Calum couldn’t help what he said next:_

_“I think you might be the most beautiful person in the world, Ashton” he hummed, shifting around slightly as Ashton’s bodyweight on his stomach became a little uncomfortable._

_“I’m the second most beautiful, because you’re definitely number one” Ashton beamed in response, releasing Calum’s delicate wrists from his grasp and pinching the younger boy’s cheeks, the skin going slightly pink where his fingers had squeezed the skin. They sat their in silence for only a few seconds before Ashton spoke up, his eyebrows furrowing together and his eyes averting from Calum’s face._

_“Can I tell you a secret, Cal? And I mean, like, a_ proper _secret” he emphasised the word ‘proper’, finally returning his gaze to Calum’s, the two of them looking at one another nervously; Calum nervous because he doesn’t like having to keep secrets, and Ashton nervous because he can’t believe what he’s about to say. Calum nods his head up and down quickly, his hands playing with the bottom of Ashton’s Ralph Lauren shirt (that he probably shouldn’t be romping round the garden in)._

_“You know how I used to fancy Carly, and how you said you sometimes felt like you fancied that blonde boy in your class – Luke, is it?” Ashton started, Calum nodding in response, continuing to play with the neat hem of Ashton’s shirt; “Well, sometimes Cal, I feel like I look at you and I get that same feeling, y’know?” Ashton stammered, his hands shaking slightly, Calum noticing this and detaching from the hem of his shirt to hold his best-friend’s hands, just lightly skimming his thumb over the back of his hand._

_“I’m not sure if it’s just because you’re my best-friend and I love hugging you and stuff, but I really do love you Calum, and it’s a bit scary” Ashton admitted, his cheeks bright pink with embarrassment; “You’re my best friend and I want to protect you forever and ever” he continued before throwing his face down in-between Calum’s shoulder, neck, and the grass of the garden floor._

_“I like that you want to protect me, Ash, and you know that I love you too, right? But I don’t see why it’s a secret? We’ve always said that we love each other?” Calum asked a little confused, the older boy sniffling slightly next to Calum’s ear and he knew that Ashton was trying to hold back tears._

_“I think you’ll understand what I mean when you’re sixteen or older, and you’ll see why I want it to be a secret” Ashton whispered, Calum no longer pushing the topic because he knew that when Ashton said he needed to be older to understand, he was always right._

6.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror on his seventeenth birthday, Calum straightened out his Ralph Lauren shirt, which was actually Ashton’s that he had recently grown out of and given to him. The pink material looked soft and warm against Calum’s tanned skin, his body beginning to fill out the same way that Ashton’s did, his shoulders broad and his jawline sharp. It was only eleven in the morning, but he already wanted to head to the beach with his friends and down some beers. Calum had recently started dating Luke Hemmings from his English class, a lovely boy whose heart was full of kindness and love for him, Calum’s mother recently letting Luke sleep at their house which only increased their fondness of one another.

Coming out to his parents on his sixteenth birthday had been a much easier experience than Calum had thought, Ashton holding his hand gently under the table for encouragement as Calum blurted out to his parents that he thought he liked boys in a different way to girls. Ashton had slept over at Calum’s that night, holding him close under the duvet as the younger boy cried despite the two of them being sixteen and eighteen. Calum didn’t cry because he was sad, he cried because the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders, and having his best-friend there to keep him grounded was the _best_ feeling in the world.

Calum hadn’t seen much of Ashton in the last few weeks, his time largely been spent with Luke as they stumbled through their newfound relationship, figuring out how their relationship would work when Calum left for university at the end of this year. Ashton had started working at a mechanics in Sydney, Calum knowing full-well that Ashton’s grades would never be amazing and that he would be better working somewhere hands-on. Calum sometimes pops round to the shop when Ashton is working late and sits on the bonnet of a car, smoking cigarettes in secret away from his family as he watches his best-friend angrily throw spanners around whenever Calum handed him the wrong one. Luke sometimes tagged along with Calum, and Ashton was always much quieter when the blonde boy was around.

Just past lunchtime, when Calum had finished eating his birthday lunch with his family, Luke and Ashton arrived at the same time with perfectly wrapped gifts, the older boy having picked-up Luke on his way back from work. Luke gave Calum a gentle peck on the lips with a beaming smile on his face before going through to the living room to greet Calum’s family, the door closing behind him and leaving Ashton and Calum in the entrance hall together. Calum noticed that Ashton had two gifts with him, the bright purple wrapping paper indicating that Ashton’s mother had actually wrapped the presents for him.

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Ash, never mind two presents” Calum smiled gently, the older boy rolling his eyes in response.

“I’ve got you a present every year since we met, there’s no way that I’m going to stop giving you presents just because you think you’re an adult now” he teased, the younger boy pushing his shoulder slightly before being passed the beautifully wrapped gifts.

“Thanks Ash” he grinned, leaning forward to press a small kiss to the older boy’s cheek; “Which should I open first?” he continued before indicating to Ashton that they should go to the living room, the other boy following through the door as Calum’s lively family greeted him. Ashton whispered _“open the small one last”_ in his ear before jogging round the back of the sofa to pull Calum’s mum into a large hug, Joy giggling as Ashton pressed kisses to her right cheek continuously.

“Go on then birthday boy, open something” Mali shouted from her spot on the living room floor, Luke sat on the armchair behind her with his legs draped over her shoulders. Mali and Luke were unbelievably comfortable together.

“Okay, okay” Calum giggled, sitting himself down in front of the coffee table with his few gifts, his hands reaching for the one from Luke first, his family’s gift having being opened whilst they had lunch. Calum still wasn’t entirely sure if he liked the aftershave his mum had bought him. “I’m opening the one from Luke first” he informed everyone, the blonde nervously chewing on his black lip ring and smiling gently at the birthday boy.

Calum tore the wrapping paper excitedly, the golden ribbon tied around the gift tumbling around his feet. Calum squealed embarrassingly loud as he grabbed the unpackaged vinyl, Luke having bought him his all-time favourite album.

“Oh my god, this is amazing!” Calum beamed, jumping up from his spot to wrap his arms around Luke and press kisses into his neatly quaffed blonde hair; “How did you even find it?” he giggled, pulling back and leaving his clasped hands behind the blonde’s neck, the blonde shrugging because he didn’t want to admit that he had spent _months_ on craigslist trying to find an original copy of Led Zeppelin V. Calum chanted ‘thank you’ repeatedly in the blonde’s neck, the pale boy flushing in embarrassment before telling him he needed to go and open Ashton’s presents. Ashton remained at the back of the sofa, gripping the top of the leather tightly as he plastered a tight, fake smile on his face. Ashton’s heart sunk every single time he saw Calum hold the blonde boy close, his heart longing to be the one cradled in the young boy’s soft embrace. He refused to admit it to himself, but his heart broke the slightest bit more each night Calum spent with Luke.

Calum shuffled back to the coffee table, a bright smile on his face as he pretended to shake the first gift Ashton had got him to guess what was inside.

“Don’t be a dick, just open it!” Mali huffed, leaning her head back against Luke’s denim-clad thigh as the blonde shook his head with a smile and a laugh.

“Mali, language” his mother scolded, the older girl rolling her eyes as Ashton and Luke chuckled to themselves, Ashton trying to hide the fact that he is _beyond_ eager for Calum to open his gifts.

Calum tore open the largest present and tears immediately swelled in the corners of his eyes. He started to flick through the photo album that Ashton had created, photos of them over the years inside as well as the postcards that Calum had sent Ashton when he was at soccer camp. Ashton walked round the coffee table and sat himself down next to Calum, everyone watching as Ashton quietly talked him through each photo, the younger boy wiping a tear away.

“This one’s my favourite” Ashton hummed, his hand ghosting over Calum’s before pointing at the photo from New Years Eve, Calum flushed pink with drink as Ashton holds his face in his hands, his lips pressing a harsh kiss to Calum’s right cheek. The fireworks in the background make the photo look staged – as though there was a green screen behind them – but Calum knows that the photo is real, and his heart pounds as though it’s about to burst out of his chest.

Calum feels sick, because Calum loves Ashton more than words can say, but instead he drops the album and loops his arms tight around Ashton’s neck, sniffling in the older boy’s curly hair as he whispers quiet enough so that only Ashton can hear: “I love you, Ashton Irwin.”

 

7.

Calum had broken up with Luke during his first term at university. Calum being in Perth and Luke being at home hadn’t worked out for them, the distance straining and the emotions draining. But one person had remained constant, and that was Ashton.

Calum was drunk in a local bar on his own, waiting for Ashton to arrive after flying to come and visit him. It was only eight-thirty, but Calum was upset because Ashton had promised that he would be here for eight. Ashton hadn’t visited Calum at university yet because he had to save up an awful lot of money, reminding Calum that the younger boy was the one who chose to go to a school on the _other side of the country._ Despite not being physically together, the two boys remained in touch through phone calls – well, that was until Calum threw his phone in the river after breaking up with Luke, immediately regretting it when he realised that he could only communicate with Ashton on his laptop now.

Calum sat at a table with a collection of postcards and polaroid’s, a sweet gesture that neither he or Ashton had grown out of. It was their thing: take polaroid’s, keep postcards, and then exchange whenever they saw one another again. Calum cringed when he saw one of the photos he was going to give Ashton, one of him shirtless on a beach with his wet hair gently framing his chiselled cheeks. Is it too forward to give your best friend a photo of your topless body because you think you look fit? Calum didn’t have much time to debate with himself before he saw Ashton walk through the door of the bar.

Calum waved, his gesture only small as he had little energy left, his studies and fairly recent break-up meaning that he is barely sleeping, the circles simply getting darker under his eyes.

“You look like shit” Ashton stated whilst sitting in the booth with Calum, the two of them on opposite benches.

“It’s lovely to see you too, Ash” Calum rolled his eyes, the older boy smiling as he got his wallet out of his jeans pocket; “Can you get me one too? I can’t be fucked to get up just yet” he continued, gesturing to Ashton’s cash. Ashton nodded before asking if a beer was okay, Calum agreeing and slumping back into the booth.

Despite looking like death, Calum felt a small flame light in his stomach as he watched his best-friend of ten years lean against the bar, trying to catch a bar tender’s eye. Ashton truly had the body of a man, whilst Calum looked like a bulked-up-teenager. Ashton’s legs were wrapped in black denim, his calves flexing as he stood on his tip-toes to talk to the woman behind the bar. His green flannel was oversized whilst also managing to emphasise his broad shoulders and slim waist, a delicate strip of tanned skin escaping the undone buttons at the top of his shirt. Calum wanted to wrap his hands around Ashton’s waist, press his cheek against his shoulder and inhale Ashton’s natural scent – oak and honey.

“Here ya go” Ashton smiled, his pearly whites gleaming and Calum’s heart thumping once again; “How’ve you been, bud?” he continued, sipping his beer whilst watching Calum fiddle with the label on his own bottle.

“Been okay” Calum lied, his eyes heavy but managing to look at Ashton’s rugged face and smile; “The workload is ridiculous and I’ve been drinking far too much, but other than that, I feel like I’ve settled in alright.”

Ashton nodded, reaching across the table to pry one of Calum’s hands away from the bottle label and gently rest their hands against one another on the dark wood; “Sydney just doesn’t feel the same without you, Cal” Ashton confessed, his thumb rubbing the back of Calum’s hand gently, his eyes fluttering down to see the postcards and photos that Calum had placed on the table earlier.

“I’m sorry, Ash, but you know I had to get out of there. See the rest of the big, bad world and all that jazz” he chuckled, loosely linking his fingers with Ashton’s; “But I miss you too” he continued, letting out a big sigh and lifting Ashton’s bruised knuckles to kiss one of them gently, releasing the older boy’s hand and diverting his attention to the postcards.

“I got you these” he indicated, pushing the photos and cardboard towards Ashton, his heart fluttering as Ashton beamed, excitedly skimming through the photos, pretending to fan himself when he got to the one of Calum shirtless.

“Thanks dude, these are really beautiful” he smiled to himself, currently looking through the postcards Calum had got him of various beach locations; “You’ll have to take me to all of these places. The postcards are great, but I bet it’s not a scratch on the real thing.”

“It’s your kinda place here, Ash. I feel like everywhere I look you’re gonna be round the corner” Calum admits, sipping his beer as Ashton places the photos back on the table, reaching for his own beer too; “You’ve always loved the beach” Calum hums almost to himself, but Ashton hearing him nonetheless.

“Do you remember when we used to play football on the beach, before you went to soccer camp? I tried to convince you that it would be more fun to stay and play football with me” Ashton chuckled, Calum smiling as he reminisced.

“I thought about beach football the whole time I was at camp” Calum confessed, “Nothing beats playing footy on the beach, sand in your shoes and the sun setting behind you.”

“Maybe we can play on the beach tonight after some drinks? I’d love to try and push you in the water again” Ashton teases, Calum scoffing in response.

“’Try’ is the optimum word there, because you’ve never actually managed to shove me into the sea” Calum wound up the older boy, Ashton kicking him under the table as he released a breathy laugh.

“Alright Mr. Academic, you don’t have to show off all your fancy words” Ashton mocked, Calum rolling his eyes in response.

“Shut up and finish your drink.”

****

It was half eleven and Calum and Ashton had finally made it to the beach, both a bit tipsy and the daylight largely gone. Walking through the early evening, they had put the world to rights, before finally ending up with their toes in the sand, their shoes in their hands.

“You promised me it would be truly special” Ashton started, his eyes gazing at the shimmering water under the late evening sun; “and you haven’t disappointed me, Calum Hood” he confessed, nudging his shoulder against Calum’s as they walked towards the small waves gathering froth at the shore.

“I’ve never disappointed you, Ashton Irwin” Calum responded, his words almost shaking as subconscious nerves set in, the romantic setting getting to the younger boy slightly.

“Touché” Ashton replied, the two of them reaching the edge of the water and Ashton throwing his shoes onto the sand as he wiggled his toes in the shallow pools.

Calum suddenly felt choked up, as though emotions he had held in for too long were bubbling to the surface, his stomach churning as he gazed fondly at his best friend.

“You’re so beautiful” Calum blurted out, the words causing Ashton to throw his head over his shoulder to the younger boy still stood in the dry sand.

“Not as beautiful as you” Ashton hummed, reaching his hand out, nodding slightly to indicate for Calum to take it. Calum took his hand, their fingers locking together like they used to under Calum’s navy-blue blanket when they were much younger.

They stood, toes in the dark water, holding hands with a peaceful silence, Ashton squeezing Calum’s hand tighter as though needing to comfort the younger boy.

“It’s taken us a long time, hasn’t it?” Ashton murmured, turning Calum so that the two of them faced one another, his eyes glancing over Calum’s face – the face that has changed so much but still reminds Ashton of warm summers evenings and featherlight touches in the night; “But I always knew we would end up here.”

Calum took his other hand and placed it upon Ashton’s tanned cheek, the other boy leaning into the touch. Calum had held Ashton’s face many times when they were young, like when the older boy was crying after he fell off his bike and grazed his knee, Calum placing his hand on his face to bring him into a hug.

Inside of holding him in a tight embrace, Calum pressed his lips to Ashton’s, fitting together as though the stars were aligned.

 

Ashton was right. They would always end up here.


End file.
